L-Glutamine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
L-Glutamine is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Powder
- Sold as
- 2 products — L-Glutamine and Endari
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
How l-glutamine is dosed
From the FDA label for Endari (application NDA208587). Other l-glutamine products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
5 grams to 15 grams orally, twice daily based on body weight. ( 2 ) Each dose of Endari should be mixed in 8 oz. (240 mL) of cold or room temperature beverage or 4 oz. to 6 oz. of food before ingestion. ( 2 ) 2.1 Dosage Administer Endari orally, twice per day at the dose based on body weight according to Table 1. Table 1. Recommended Dosing Weight in kilograms Weight in pounds Per dose in grams Per day in grams Packets per dose Packets per day less than 30 less than 66 5 10 1 2 30 to 65 66 to 143 10 20 2 4 greater than 65 greater than 143 15 30 3 6 2.2 Preparation of Product Mix Endari immediately before ingestion with 8 oz. (240 mL) of cold or room temperature beverage, such as water, milk or apple juice, or 4 oz. to 6 oz. of food such as applesauce or yogurt. Complete dissolution is not required prior to administration. Dosage and Administration Advise patient to take a missed dose as soon as they remember. Patient should not double the dose that they take . Instruct patient to mix each dose in 8 oz. (240 mL) of cold or room temperature beverage or 4 to 6 oz. of food. Advise patient that complete dissolution is not required prior to administration.
L-Glutamine side effects
Most common adverse reactions (incidence > 10%) are constipation, nausea, headache, abdominal pain, cough, pain in extremity, back pain, and chest pain. ( 6 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Emmaus Medical, Inc. at 1-877-420-6493 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. The data described below reflect exposure to Endari in 187 patients, including 136 exposed for 6 months and 109 exposed for ≥1 year. Endari was studied in 2 placebo-controlled clinical trials (a phase 3 study, n=230 and a phase 2 study, n=70). In these trials, patients with sickle cell anemia or sickle β 0 -thalassemia were randomized to receive Endari (n=187) or placebo (n=111) orally twice daily for 48 weeks followed by 3 weeks of tapering. Both studies included pediatric and adult patients (5-58 years of age) and 54% were female. The majority of patients were black (97.3%), had a diagnosis of sickle cell anemia (89.9%) and were receiving hydroxyurea at baseline (63.4%). Treatment discontinuation due to adverse reactions was reported in 2.7% (n=5) of patients receiving Endari. These adverse…
Who shouldn’t take l-glutamine
None None ( 4 )
L-Glutamine drug interactions
No drug interaction studies have been conducted.
Every l-glutamine product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70/100 | Prescription | Solution | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Solution | No data | — | View → |
L-Glutamine recalls
From the FDA Enforcement database. A recall covers specific lots — not the drug as a whole.
What people report to the FDA about l-glutamine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 728 reports naming l-glutamine, and the FDA flagged 67% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- nausea69 reports
- fatigue61 reports
- arthralgia45 reports
- diarrhoea44 reports
- headache43 reports
- sickle cell anaemia with crisis43 reports
- dizziness40 reports
- weight decreased38 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean l-glutamine caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is l-glutamine?
Endari (L-Glutamine) is a medication supplied as a powder, for solution.
Can you take l-glutamine with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run l-glutamine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is l-glutamine sold under?
We track 2 l-glutamine-containing products in the U.S.: L-Glutamine and Endari. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does l-glutamine come in?
Across the brands we track, l-glutamine is currently marketed as powder, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic l-glutamine?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic l-glutamine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Has l-glutamine been recalled?
The FDA's Enforcement database lists 1 recall record whose product description mentions l-glutamine. The most recent: L-Glutamine for Injection (Jul 30, 2025). A recall applies to specific lots, not to the drug as a whole — check the record for the affected lot numbers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). L-Glutamine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/l-glutamine
- MLA
- “L-Glutamine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/l-glutamine.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for l-glutamine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.